The river: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Canoeship Enterprise. Its six day mission: to explore strange new rapids, to seek out new sandflies and new campsites. To boldly capsize where no canoe has capsized before.
(Cue clunky 60s intro music)
Read MoreThis blog post will not involve hiking in any way. Instead, it deals with new fashions on the TA, in particular hairstyles.
A brief summary: I no longer have hair.
The story so far:
Our intrepid heroes have faced mud, sand, rain, killer cows and hiker’s hunger. Now, after a daring traverse of the thorny slopes of the Forest of Death, they are huddled in their tent. They’ve got a pack full of snacks, it’s dark and they’re nursing a swollen ankle.
Read MoreAfter a rest day in Hamilton, we were clean, fed and rested. So what could possibly go wrong on the next section? As it turns out, quite a bit!
Read MoreFrom Auckland, Te Araroa used to head southeast towards the Hunua ranges. Unfortunately, this section is closed due to storm damage and kauri dieback disease. This year, the trail heads towards the airport and then south. State highway 1 is never far away. Auckland is a massive sprawling city, so this part of the hike involves a lot of pavements and roads.
Read MoreA short summary of this section of the TA: departure from Waipu Cove (clean, and full of food), followed by a long day on the beach, a muddy forest with good food at the end of it, some alternative ways to wash, a bit of roadwalking, and finally a town with food. Remind you of anything? It was like doing a mini-TA...
Read MoreWhen I was about twelve, I went on a school trip to an island where we camped and collected shells and whatnot. The school sent this infoletter to all parents which said “Magerøya is an island that is surrounded by water on all sides.” Well, duh.
Read MoreJasper bought his trailrunners from a shop called “Mud, sweat and trails” which is also a pretty good description of this second part of the tramp. So. Much. Mud.
Read MoreFor some reason we thought walking 3000 km along the Te Araroa trail would be a good way to spend the next five months or so. I have no idea why. Right now, my feet hurt and my calves are sore. Still, it’s worth it. Hiking is fun! Although we should probably call it tramping now that we are in NZ.
Read MoreQuick gear note here: for the last couple of years we have used two Exped Synmat 7s (comparable to the newer Synmat Ultralights), which are very nicely insulated open cell air mats. We have a regular version for Bob, and a larger, wider version for me. And while they have served us very well in the past – in New Zealand, Australia, on the GR5 and the Adlerweg and many other trips – we recently had a baffling experience with them (pun intended).
Read MoreAlmost there! What better way to start the final day than to go in the wrong direction? We followed red and white markers out of Aspremont but that turned out to be the GR51. Needless to say, the GR51 does not go to Nice but instead wanders off towards the west without actually reaching the Mediterranean until Cannes. Thank you, friendly French woman who ran after us and pointed out the GR5!
Read MoreThe last long day of the GR5! The hiking was much like the previous day’s second section: dry, rocky landscape with well-maintained paths. And it was horrendously hot. On leaving Utelle, we passed a small chapel (Chapelle St Antoine) where there is a button that starts the chant of the month. When we were there it was apparently “Silence is golden”, set to the music of 4’33”
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